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Their baby boosted them and they created their company. Those who confuse their status as mompreneur with that of stay-at-home moms have burnt their wings. The others, who have become business leaders – with a good form of childcare as a result – do not know the crisis. Meet the heroines of these success stories.
Moms very established on the net
The movement started from the United States twenty years ago, only to reach France with difficulty four years ago. What mompreneurs tend to have in common is that they started entrepreneurship after the arrival of a baby. ” When I had my second child, I was an employee, says Céline Frénié. Very quickly, I realized that two young children were a hindrance to my professional development. I was labeled as a mother. And like many women, I was wondering how to have a fulfilling professional activity, while taking care of my children. I started. During my pregnancy, I had experienced shortages, as a consumer, when there were a lot of innovative products abroad. The idea for the site was born like that. I came from e-commerce, so it went fast. E-commerce is also over-represented in the companies set up by these young women, since the hours are more flexible and the fixed costs are compressed more easily. They embark on services, legal, craft. The early childhood sector is also very significant.
Childcare, essential for success
When they decide to take the plunge, to leave the comfort or alienation of salaried employment, they still have in their heads that by being in charge of themselves, they will be in control of their schedules and their schedule. And that they will more easily manage to reconcile private and professional life, child and work. And there, watch out for the landing. ” When you have young children, it is imperative to have a type of childcare, warns Céline Frénié. Keeping your baby thinking that you will be able to work during nap hours or late at night is counterproductive. I know what I mean. I had twins after my first two children. I had to hire someone, and even rework before they could be kept, at 2 months. Looking back, I wonder how I did it. “” Yes, pregnancy gives courage and energy, but managing the baby and the box head-on is enormous, ”confides this other mompreneur.
Companies that are not always sustainable
Do moms who decide to become their own boss end up building a truly profitable company, or are they content with a small side activity providing an extra salary? Because if this economic phenomenon turns out to be only a way of sending women home in times of crisis, there is nothing to celebrate. One of them admits having had the impression of meeting among the young mompreneurs a large number of women “who were allowed to have fun without economic viability. It must be said, she slips, rare are the truly original and creative projects ”. But maybe she’s a little pessimistic (or bad language). It is difficult to have a precise and quantified idea of the future of mompreneurs, who do not constitute a specific category. On the other hand, we know that for ten years, women have represented 30% of business creations and that their rate of sustainability is higher than that of men. Five years after their creation, 55% of companies (regardless of the gender of the founder) still exist. This is the case for 60% of companies created by women.
Be accompanied by an “incubator”
Mompreneurs who have succeeded in making their small business viable always give the same advice: concrete your business plan, ensure the potential profitability of the project, train in marketing, management, accounting, administration , be supported by specialized companies. To put the odds on their side, mompreneurs can turn to an “incubator”, an association which offers legal accommodation to project promoters, allows them to prospect and test their market without risk, trains them, advises them and coaches them. After 11 or 18 months of personalized follow-up, the young entrepreneur is normally ready to stand on his own feet. Women represent 60% of people supported each year by incubators. Here too, they are also successful, or even better than men. On the other hand, once started, passed or not through an incubator, companies created by women grow less (in number of employees) and less quickly than those of men. ” There are three reasons for this, explains Alain Bosetti, president of the Salon de la micro-entreprise **: women who start up have less equity because the banks lend them less money (there too, there is a glass ceiling), family expenses weigh more heavily on their shoulders, they seek more security and take less risk. “And to conclude:” Finally, they run their business… As a good father ”.